Care Teams
Community supporting people in need.
All of us experience times in our lives when we need help. You may be hurting from or rejoicing in a challenging life circumstance (like illness, grief, birth of a baby, etc.) or you may know someone who is. Below, you will find some of the ways we can help you and pray.
Stephen Ministry
Stephen Ministers are laypeople—Christian men and women—trained to provide one-to-one care for anyone experiencing a difficult time in life: grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, relocation, or separation due to military deployment.
Stephen Ministers aren't counselors; they're specially trained people from all walks of life with a passion for being great listeners, and bringing Christ’s love and care to people during hard times. A Stephen Minister usually meets with a person once a week for about an hour.
If you have any questions, or just want to learn more, email Mara Marsman or call her at 616.698.3170.
Become a Stephen Minister
Training is offered every couple of years. There is an application and interview process. If you are interested in possibly becoming a Stephen Minister, please contact Mara Marsman. You will be contacted when training is being scheduled again.
Teams
To request assistance or for more information about any of the Care Teams below, email Rhoni Kaastra or call 616.698.3170.
Care Visits
We offer emotional and practical support with visits to comfort and encourage those at home, in hospitals, and in nursing facilities because of illness or physical limitations. Our visitation volunteers listen compassionately, offer encouragement, and pray with individuals. Due to patient privacy rules, if you or a family member are in the hospital and would like us to know—you should first inform the hospital and then contact the church.
Care Cards
Volunteers encourage and remind people that they are loved and valued, in all circumstances such as illness, grief, celebration, etc., through sending cards. Our dedicated volunteers pray over each person’s circumstance and send cards with personal, written encouragement.
Care Grief Packets
Grief packets are sent to those who have lost a parent, spouse, or child, and the content focuses on what they are likely experiencing at different points of the grief journey. Our volunteers send each of four different Journeying through Grief books at specific, crucial times during that first year of grief.
Care & Repair
Volunteers assist families and individuals with physical or financial limitations by helping with minor/occasional yard work or home repair. Our team offers their volunteer resources as available.
Care Meals
Care meal volunteers assist families or individuals with illness, a baby, or other circumstances that temporarily limit their ability to prepare their own meals.
Care for Cancer
When we here of someone in our church family diagnosed with cancer, volunteers call and visit, offering the book Cancer—Now What? to help them “take action, find hope, and navigate the journey ahead.” We follow up with cancer patients at intervals through the following months to offer emotional and practical assistance.
Knit, Pray, Love
Passionate volunteers knit gifts for people in difficult circumstances from grief to cancer to hospitalization. Each gift is lovingly crafted and prayed over!
Blood Drives
Cornerstone supports many local non-profits, but did you know we also have a partnership with Michigan blood banks? We host large blood drives twice a year to make sure our local hospitals have the supply they need.
